AMBROTOS KANATA needs to be true to this land and the people who live here. All stories need to be told.
Amber Tuccaro and her mother broke my heart and opened my privileged white boys eyes a tiny bit. When I heard Ambers voice, it haunted me, I wanted to include her story some how in the AMBROTOS KANATA project.
Here is the video I watched earlier:
Amber Tuccaro's unsolved murder
After thinking things over all night, I fell asleep, I suddenly woke up with a possible idea on how to photograph Ambers story (it was strange like my mind was still thinking while I slept). The idea might help educate more Canadians on about the genocide happening to indigenous woman across the country.
I am not sure it is appropriate for me to do these ambrotypes, to tell these stories, so am asking several First Nations Facebook friends for advice and help.
The idea would be to photograph the places the bodies of woman victims were found, then to meet the families (if they OK a meeting) and to photograph the family, or a member of the family (mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter). The family could then share a personal story about their lost daughter, something true and human, something that could be included with the photographs in an exhibition.
We can often overcome racial prejudice and indifference when we learn more about the humanity and the suffering of others. Human beings are empathetic and compassionate by nature, you just have to wake them up sometimes. You sometimes just need to slap people out of their indifferent, coma like state.
Ambrotype photographs of the ugly places the poor victims ended their lives, contrasted with compassionate portraits of those who loved her, and the voice (audio or written words) of those who suffer from loss telling a story of the person who was murdered, would be powerful. This idea will not change the world, but it might help some people start to think in a new way, it may help to change prejudiced, negative attitudes. That would be the hope anyway, and heck you got to believe people will change for the better, or what use is life. The photographs and stories would also be a tribute to the woman who were taken away from those who loved them. The ambrotypes would say they were here, that they were important, remembered and loved.
Still thinking on this. Please listen to the video link above, and hear Ambers voice.
Note* AMBROTOS KANATA is a 15 year photographic project of Canada. The pictures will be made on glass using a process called wet plate collodion. The glass photos or ambrotypes are a beautiful but difficult to make. The wet plate process dates back to the 1850s.
Note** Please go and listen to Amber's voice on the link above, it is important to hear her.
Update* Maybe we could call this part, this CHAPTER of "Ambrotos Kanata", LOST SISTERS.
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| Amber Tuccaro |
